Wednesday, March 9, 2016

The Sorry State of US Education

Public school. A time supposedly for learning, for beginning to prepare for life. In the rest of the world's developed nations, that holds true. Not in America.

The US public schools today are hotbeds of violence and disrespect. Our teachers are underpaid and underqualified. Students are undisciplined and coddled. The curricula are politically slanted and sometimes even incorrect. We have the least informed and least educated population in this nation's history, mainly because our educational system has become less one of teaching and more of indoctrination.

Compared to the rest of the world, the US educational system is mediocre to poor. We do badly at math, poorly at science. We spend more than any other developed nation on education for less return. The public school system is operating below the mean while independents, which pay their teachers better, have stricter qualifications for their teachers, and entertain students who want to learn, perform much better.

Maybe it's time public schools were overhauled. Maybe it's time the students in those public schools were punished when they misbehave instead of counseled. Maybe it's time to take a harder line, relatively speaking, than what is being done now. If respect for authority won't be taught in the home, it must be taught in the schools. If not, then we have no room to complain if youth crime grows unchecked.

The Commentator

I have been writing speculative fiction for over 40 years, but only
recently have I been able to pursue it full-time. After retiring from
my position as an air traffic controller, I decided to devote myself to
my writing, not realizing I was trading one stressful career for
another. Nevertheless, through my short fiction and novels, at least I
have an outlet for my obsession with the written word.